


Coming on Strong

by ToughPaperRound



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Online Dating, Buck as Firehose93, But Eddie is good for Buck 1.0, Canon-typical Abuse of Public Property, Embedded Images, Firehose, M/M, Online Dating, Podfic Welcome, Tinder, screenreader friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:42:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22600423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToughPaperRound/pseuds/ToughPaperRound
Summary: Eddie Diaz is beginning to feel settled in to his new place in Los Angeles. So he starts talking with people on Tinder.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 29
Kudos: 220
Collections: Buddie AU fanfics





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to Adam Lambert ([here on Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/adamofficial/)) for keeping me company as I wrote this. Not that way, silly!
> 
> If you want to read more Buddie fics that feature social media, check this [rec list](https://toughpaperround.tumblr.com/post/190651462868/social-media-features-heavily-in-these-buddie/).
> 
> In this Universe, Eddie and Buck meet before they do in 911 canon. In fact, it is in S1ep1.
> 
> Whilst writing this fic, I was also inspired to write [this drabble](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22584724/) which fits in a similar universe and was first published [on Tumblr](https://buckandthe50yogainstructors.tumblr.com/post/190627353599/).  
> Content warning: canon-typical (but still utterly reprehensible) misuse of vital emergency services property.  
>  _(A prize to whomever first spots the teeny nod to Malec, btw)_  
> 

Eddie has been in L.A. now for a little while. He's beginning to feel like he has the essentials of life locked down in his new place, so he can finally take a breather and look around. Today, while his young son is visiting with his Abuela, he intends to do... just that.

Said Abuela _thinks_ Eddie is cleaning out the attic-spaces in his new living accommodation.

But this has been the first time in a long while that he has had any free time, and he's been looking forward to this, for once. That's new. Since Shannon left and they signed the divorce papers, Eddie has been perfectly satisfied with his own right hand. But recently, Eddie has watched Baristas and joggers and other parents on the schoolyard and he has to admit to himself that his thoughts are not entirely innocent. His dreams, for sure, are entirely filthy. 

And so Eddie decides today is the day. 'Your lucky day, Los Angeles!'

Urggh. No, he was still having trouble convincing his head to get into this particular game. It was easier in the Army. And when he was seventeen, all of this stuff had been _ridiculously_ easy. He misses those days.

He grabs a drink, then sits on a bench near his favourite cafe, and shuffles disinterestedly about on the app he downloaded the other week.

That day he had set a few basic details in his Bio, left all sorts of thing to 'default' and settled on a stupid random name, _G.I. Joey_. He'd chosen a profile pic that wasn't too embarrassing. Finding more photos for the full bio was ridiculously difficult. Who knew he had so many photos with his son?! He'd shoved in some where he wasn't wearing a hat, or looking too young, goofy, or dad-tired. Even uploaded a few shirtless pics from the summer.

Next, he'd had to swipe through a few bios to get started making matches, but hadn't even opened up any profiles. Just used gut instinct and hoped for the best.

He'd ignored the whole thing since then, notifications turned firmly off. Now that he has returned to the app, he sees that he received several messages:

Quite a few of them have got shirty at his lack of response. (Which considering their universal lack of shirts, really amuses Eddie for a solid half-minute.)

At least 8 seem to have decided to go with the opening message of "How *you* doin'?" thinking they are hilariously original - and after the eighth one Eddie is so done with his silly username.

A few of them went straight for nude photos rather than chat. Either sharing them, or demanding them, or both. Nope. No thank you.

A few just sent a welcoming message and let him know that if he'd like to chat sometime, they are there.

So Eddie starts checking out the profiles for the people in that last group, deleting all the others from his inbox.

One is a woman from another city,

"Honey, I visit LA for work several times a year and I would love to meet up with you for company. We could be sweet together!"

Points for planning ahead, but... Nope.

Another is a guy who works in a tattoo parlour and he seems to just want to talk tattoos with Eddie. Nope.

This next guy calling himself _Firehose93_ seems as cocky as his username would suggest.

_"You're gonna want to save yourself some time and just come straight to me._

_Happy to talk whenever you're ready to come back!"_

Eddie knows himself well enough to admit that he likes cocky… so he decides to write back to _Firehose93_. Something flirty but not too forward. Yet.

_"If you're looking for someone straight, you're in the wrong place?"_

As he sends and reads responses on the various message threads he has going on today, Eddie idly checks out the full Bio for _Firehose93_. In his head he is trying to remember the best 'bi'-puns he knows.

'Bi the way', 'both is good', 'Best Bi', 'Adam _and_ Eve' - all of those. Hmm. It's been a while.

Well, at least this guy hasn't used any sleazy drunken jock-ish group photos, which is a plus. There's an action shot of him climbing up a rocky cliffside, and Eddie is feeling a little warm as he looks again at those back muscles, those thick shoulders taut and straining, and the roundness of buttock well-displayed by the leggings and harness.

In fact, a ridiculous number of the photos show various parts of his torso in gorgeous detail.

Parts of Eddie are definitely interested. He would be lying to himself if he thought otherwise. Majority Rule?

Another reply pings in, and it's actually from the guy he's lusting over. Feeling shy to be caught looking, Eddie quickly flips over to the messages.

_"Oh, then please…_

_...Allow me to be straightforward!"_

_"Haha!"_

Hmm. So this guy seems keen. And a bright spark. O-kay... Let's play!

__

{If you were able to read the images clearly, then you can skip all the next part which is in italics}

_Go on then, I reckon your profile_

_pics earn you that indulgence at least"_

_Oh, yeah? You liked em, huh?_

_Which one is your fave?_

_You're putting me on the spot there!_

_Gotta say, the climbing looked like fun?_

_Yeah, but you have to have strong hands for that 😓_

_It takes lots of practise._

_And, question..._

_What would more pics earn me? 😉_

_A million bucks?_

_Nah, don't need it!_

_A peck on the cheek? 😙_

_Getting warmer…_

_So, are you free today? Fancy getting toasty warm with me?_

_It's a very tempting offer!_

_But I'm looking at guys who are a lot nearer than you, sorry!_

_I don't have a lot of time today._

_You're just too far away._

_I think you'll find I'm worth the wait_

_You're free now?_

_You're at least 30 minutes away, by my reckoning! Sorry man, rain-check?_

_If I shave that down to under 15, what will *that* get me?_

_🤔_

_A peck on the cheek? Seems fair._

_But, in this city? No way!_

_I will get to you in under 15, trust me._

_You're on!_ _Omw_

_Okay, I'll wait here for 15 but_

_then, trust me, I'm moving right on to Hot Surfer Guy instead._

_\---_

Just in case, Eddie sends a picture of himself sat on the bench, showing his surroundings clearly.

But... Eddie can see exactly how far away _Firehose93_ is, and the first thing he learned about this city is that the traffic is always awful, everywhere. "There's no way!" he thinks to himself.

Eddie gasps when the app refreshes and the distance to _Firehose93_ has already reduced.

And then again, right after that. This guy must be on a motorbike, to dodge the jams like this?

Eddie's horny hindbrain imagines wide-spread thighs, encased in leather, and astride a thrumming engine. Ok, this was getting silly. Eddie was surely just being catfished by a middle-aged, out-of-work 'Actor'.

No way that he was really getting lucky today. 

Before Eddie could think straight, the app is telling him that _Firehose93_ is only a minute away. Eddie's palms are sweating.

He dimly notices a siren and has a moment's concern that he might have caused a traffic accident with his stupid challenge. But, no, there the guy is, getting nearer again!

The siren is louder now. Nearer.

A large red fire-truck, with lights and sirens blazing, negotiates the junction a block away and turns towards Eddie. It navigates through the lanes to reach the curb, and the siren shuts off, and begins to slow, and then stop at the junction.

The driver scoots across the cab and leans against the frame of the window nearest to Eddie. He says, "Hi! You must be _G.I. Joey_?" with a wide confident smile.

He is, in fact, truly the guy in the photos. Eddie recognises the blond hair, the jawline… but mostly he recognises The Arms. He would, even without seeing that band tattoo on his forearm. The Arms are now stretching an LAFD Uniform shirt to destruction… and by the smirk on his face, he knows exactly what that's doing to Eddie.

Eddie decides this is unfair on so many levels, and he needs to even up the playing field a little. He puts _his_ arms up on the back-rest of the bench and lounges back at an angle calculated to test the strength of the fabric of his shorts, and let his T-shirt ride up his belly a touch. _Firehose93_ doesn't break eye contact at all, except to blink slowly.

"So, is _this_ ," and here Eddie waves vaguely over the red machine which is hissing and plinking and blocking his view of LA, "why they call you _Firehose93_?" asks Eddie, when the truck is silent.

This grin. It exudes confidence. How does he do it?

"Nope!" says the infuriating guy from his high vantage point of the cabin.

He continues to maintain eye contact and Eddie has to look away, glancing down the street as he laughs at the ridiculousness of this situation. This was _not_ what he imagined this morning in the shower when he made his mind up. (It's way better!)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! If the embedded images in the last chapter annoyed/pleased you, you'll be glad/disappointed to see there are none in this chapter.
> 
> Last time, we ended with:
> 
> "So, is this why they call you Firehose93?" asks Eddie, when the truck is silent.
> 
> "Nope!" says the infuriating guy from his high vantage point of the cabin.
> 
> He continues to maintain eye contact and Eddie has to look away, glancing down the street as he laughs at the ridiculousness of this situation. This was not what he imagined this morning in the shower when he made his mind up. (It's way better!)

"So... now what?" asks Eddie of his would-be pick-up, "do you want to go and get a drink, or…"

"Kind of on the clock here, _G.I. Joey_ !" answers _Firehose93_ , slowly shaking his head twice.

Oh, enough of that usernames nonsense for a start, thinks Eddie. "Ugh, I'm Eddie, actually! And you are?"

"Aww, not Joey? What a shame! I'm Buck," he answers. He doesn't look away from Eddie, not for a second. "Do you want to hop in? We can go someplace quieter?"

Eddie can't believe he's even considering this. His dick owes him, big time.

He shrugs in an effort to look nonchalant. Then his body decides for him and stands as gracefully as he can manage, given all the nerves, excitement, and sheer horniness going on inside him.

Buck's face shines even brighter with a winning smile as he moves to open up the huge truck door. Eddie assesses the climb and grabs for the handles, hoisting himself up to cabin level. As soon as he's up there though, his hindbrain decides to be useful and lets him know just how _close_ he is to Buck. Close enough to smell him - and… now Eddie's nose is also approving this choice. Buck eases a little to sit back in the passenger crew-seat and slowly tilts his head up, till he reaches Eddie's eyes and smiles warmly.

"Welcome aboard!"

Eddie knows he's fully on display here, arms flexed taut holding on to ceiling grab handles, his T-shirt riding up, his eyes blinking as he accustoms himself to the cabin's blessed shade from today's sun.

"Hi," says Eddie, his mind too busy fully rebooting, failing to provide a better line.

Neither of them seem able to move.

Then, Buck's hand moves as if owned by someone else, and gently brackets Eddie's hip to steady him.

"Hi," Buck returns, still staring up into Eddie's eyes. Eddie gulps. Didn't he just finish a cold drink? It was so good! Why is he so crazy thirsty now?

Buck's gaze flickers away from his eyes to watch that gulp, a few times dancing away and then right back again.

Then Buck's gaze seems caught by the place right in front of him, where his hand is firmly splayed around the side of Eddie's hip. He rubs his thumb across the bone, mindlessly, and then brings his  _ other _ hand to the opposite hip.

Now Eddie feels the firm pressure to his hip-bones from two strong hands. A steady grip. He feels gripped, yes. Held, but not forced. Perhaps the word is secured? Worshipped? Nah, that's going too far!

Buck stretches his thumb joints wide and high and his thumb-tips graze up near Eddie's ribs. They are under his shirt, and feel work-worn rough. But warm and slow. Then those solid thumbs stroke downwards across his muscular waist and hip bones, slowly, appreciating and exploring. Perfectly in time with each other.

The thumbs repeat the same path several times and both men are mesmerised by the way Eddie's core muscles jump and twitch in response.

Now he feels worshipped.  _ Dios! _ It's been too long!

Eddie craves down to Buck, nearer and nearer, inch by inch.

Buck tilts his head back from his study of Eddie's abs and seems to become wide-eyed, lost in Eddie's gaze once again.

He stretches up, raising his lips in silent offering, and shutting his eyes as they close in together.

  
  


A car-horn beeps rudely somewhere outside of their bubble, and they jump a little apart. Blinking. Coming back to a realisation that they are...

in a fire-truck stopped at a junction. Lights still flashing.

"Aaaah, grief, yeah, we should uh, we should move this somewhere else, huh?" exhales Buck, automatically checking the mirror to look for the trouble he's sure he's in.

"Yeah," agrees Eddie's dick.

"Wait!" says Eddie and he lays one hand onto Buck's shoulder, leaning his torso back to see Buck's face clearly. "Uh, wait."

Buck releases his grip on Eddie immediately, though still hovering to catch him in case he looks like he might fall out of the cab. "What's wrong? You okay?"

"Umm, yeah, but I have the, uhh, feeling you aren't the LA Fire Chief, Buck?"

"Not  _ yet… _ " says Buck as he makes an acknowledging smirk with his cute face, "But… well, 'Fire Chief Buckley' has a nice ring to it, yeah?" he grins. "Why d'you ask?" his face falling to serious again.

"So… Buck... you need to get this truck back where it belongs. We... need a rain-check, yeah?" Eddie says gently.

Buck's face falls, and then quickly he tries to convince Eddie it will all be fine. "I know a quiet place just round here, we can pull the truck in there and no-one will ever know…"

"Buck." Eddie is arching a brow now as he thinks with his proper brain and realises this truck needs to get back where it should be. The firefighter in it, too.

"Where's your firehouse? Which direction is it, I mean?" asks Eddie.

"The 118, in Northridge," says Buck, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to vaguely indicate the direction. "Why?"

"Ah, yes good, well I'm kind of on your way - so maybe you could drop me off on the road? That way you are not keeping the truck any longer than you have already?"

"A... rain-check?"

"Rain-check," Eddie affirms.

Buck smiles that broad, welcome smile once again and pats the bench next to him. "Then take a seat, G.I. Joey, and I'll take you on a tour!"

Eddie shifts his feet and his weight to go buckle in at the crew-seat next to Buck. As he sits, he brushes a kiss to Buck's temple, right by that simple birthmark that frames his eye.

Buck stops breathing for a few seconds and just blinks at Eddie. That is not how that normally goes! People ask him if it's a scar or eye herpes or a bruise. Or they just stare weirdly. No-one outside his family has ever just… accepted it.

Buck is flabbergasted.

Wow! How did he get to find this guy?

Buck reaches out to grab the cab-door and slam it shut, before catching those same grab handles Eddie had been crushing earlier. He is going to scoot himself back over to the driver's seat.

But first, as he stands, he gets into Eddie's space obnoxiously. He plants a solid hand on Eddie's thigh to 'help' push himself up. He crouches so as not to bang his head on the cab roof and this brings their faces very close. He breathes hotly onto Eddie's ear and says, "Okay, a rain-check." He pulls back a little to regain eye contact and nods. And then makes sure Eddie gets a real good view as Buck climbs into the driver's seat.

Smiling, Buck starts up the truck, and dons a headset and points at a matching set by Eddie, gesturing that he should put it on.

"Gotta say," Eddie hears across the intercom over the noise as Buck pulls the truck into the traffic, "I've never had a rain-check before! This is a new experience!" 

"Yeah? Well  _ this _ is a new experience for me, too!" adds Eddie, gesturing at the cabin. "I've been in a tank, helicopters, and all sorts of jeeps, but never upfront in something like this!"

"Ha! If I sound the horn aswell, will your kids be really jealous?"

"Just the one. And oh, my son would  _ so _ love a ride in here! He would be real jealous  _ if _ I ever told him about this. But I definitely will not be telling him!"

Eddie can't help but admire Buck's arms again as he manouevres the truck around another junction and then they are heading back to the firehouse. Buck glances across to Eddie and flashes him a cheeky grin.

"See something you like, soldier?"

"Yes, yes, OK, you know you're hot, Mr. Hot Stuff, now focus on the road and don't prang this thing," retorts Eddie.

"Aww, Mr. Hot Stuff? Maybe that should be my username instead."

"Yeah? Is  _ Firehose _ not getting you enough matches?"

"Ha! I do okay, thanks! How about you, you're new in town, I'm guessing?" asks Buck casually, "So, you meeting plenty of people?"

"Nah, too busy yet with house stuff, you know?"

"Yeah. It will all settle down I'm sure. So… about that rain-check? What exactly did you have in mind?" asks Buck, bringing the conversation back where he wanted it.

"Nggh, I don't think you want me to describe that while you're driving, Buck!" evades Eddie.

"No, yeah, I  _ absolutely do _ want to hear aaaallll about that, but no I meant - like, when and where?" says Buck. "See, I'm on shift very soon... and that's right through till Monday morning, then I'll need to crash out for a good 12 hours till I'm human again, and then…"

"Then?"

"Well, then, we could see if it's still raining, I guess?" suggests Buck, almost shy, keeping his smiling face focussed on the road ahead.

"Yeah?" agrees Eddie.

"Okay!" says Buck, using the horn for no road-legal reason.

"Yeah! I mean, I'll have to do some begging again to arrange childcare for a little while, but this can happen, yes."

"Oh, oh! I didn't know you could beg?! Right! I'm going back to that empty lot now, I've changed my mind…" Buck grinned.

"Haha," deadpanned Eddie, though similar images were flashing through his own mind. "Stay on course, Mr. Stuff, nearly there now. In fact, that lot over there will do fine, pull over and let me out please."

Buck does exactly that, making sure to keep the truck ticking over this time. "Thanks for the ride home," says Eddie warmly.

"You're welcome! Sooo. Can I, uh, have your number?" asks Buck , hesitantly.

Eddie looks over at him, assessing and playing it cool. "Is there any chance of you using any form of Emergency Response Vehicle to get to me another time?"

"Well, no, I think I've pushed my luck enough with my boss already. In fact, I'd better get a move on…"

Buck _seems_ to be expecting to be turned down now, and is covering his disappointment with a fast retreat.

Eddie grins and holds out a hand to get his attention and halt his escape plan. "Good! Then, yes, you can have my number."

**Author's Note:**

> I got bucket-loads of help on this fic, from [Mansikka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mansikka/) (of course 😊) _and_ from so many other folks on the Buddie discord (invite link to join [here](https://discord.gg/QBgJPg3/)). Beta-reads, encouragement, image-suggesting, fact-checking and Tinder-consulting - nothing was too difficult for the 118 Firefam 💕  
> Thank you  
> Pls share on [Tumblr](https://toughpaperround.tumblr.com/post/190791657448/coming-on-strong-toughpaperround-9-1-1-tv/)


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